Transformations within a system or subsystem (collectively referred to as “system”) that are initiated by some action (“processing”) can often result in significant differences within such a system. Processing in a system can be characterized as the step-by-step changing of states and parts of the current state (collectively referred to as “effects”). Certain effects may only be transient in nature and difficult to observe. As a result, historical state information is often required when diagnosing a subsequent error condition or evaluating unexpected behavior.